While there have been toys that change personalities based upon how they were played with by the child, the toy's behavior was based on pre-loaded programs. In other toys, these programs could be changed slightly by a child's interaction on a smart device (such as a phone, tablet or computer) that was operatively connected to the toy. Other smart toys have been reported that use cloud databases to speak to a child using conversation engines in the cloud that learn about the child over time and prompt conversation based upon the child's responses. These smart toys can talk about seemingly relevant information for the child but they are not completely dynamic since they use pre-recorded audio files and are only as dynamic as the recorded files allow.
Utilizing dynamic content and algorithms to enable a toy to learn and grow with a child over time has been discussed. Commonly referred to as a smart toy, these toys typically link to an Internet hosted server called the cloud. This data and the algorithms in the cloud can then be used to alter the toy's behavior. Typically sensor information, responses, and analytics recorded from the child and their environment during play is stored such that it can be used to morph the toys behavior over time and thus, the toy seemingly learns about that child. For example, if a child enters that their name is “Sally” into a smart toys controlling application, the toy system can store that information locally on that smart device, the smart toy, or in the cloud and now the toy can recall the child's name.
It is well known that storing data associated about a child invokes a level of privacy protection, security, and permissions not typically required for adult Internet connected devices. Some have contemplated toys where a parent accomplishes setup and configuration tasks for a child, such as downloading data and selecting content to customize the play experience.